The protection of trade secrets in Kenya
Date
2020-11
Authors
WETUNGA, NANCY
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Intellectual property has increasingly gained popularity in Kenya in the recent years. The protection of intellectual property has expanded from traditional modes such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights to include modes of protection like trade secrets. This expansion has been influenced by the existence of a large population of small and medium sized enterprises that need protection from misappropriation and theft of their trade secrets. This paper sets out to establish whether there is a necessity for trade secrets legislation in Kenya. This goal will be achieved by outlining the existing approach to the protection of trade secrets in the country, i.e., by looking at the equitable action for breach of confidentiality and the protection of trade secrets under contract law through employment contracts or the law governing non-disclosure
agreements.
Description
Through the centuries, property has remained one of the most fundamental topics of debate in any state and for any individual. Property rights have been repeatedly reviewed because of inventions like penicillin, and the internet, that changed the perspective of property as only being tangible. 1 These new forms of property gave rise to intellectual property rights and the legal frameworks developed in the contemporary world for the protection of such rights. A trade secret is an example of a new form of property and includes recipes, practices, processes, designs or formulae. 2 The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), is an agreement between member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that seeks to protect and regulate intellectual property in the member states. 3 The TRIPS agreements requires all states to work towards providing protection and rights for undisclosed or confidential
information; in other words, trade secrets.